Assalamualaikum. I am very much confused between chaliphas and imaams i know there are 4imaams but who are chaliphas?? And who are sahabas and tabea tabien?
Wasalaam sister but i read in the quran that there should be one calipha to lead the muslims. Did they came after the death of the first one. eg when our beloved prophet died he gave the chilaphat to abu bakr raziallahu anhu. So when he died he had transfered it to the other and so on?? And when we are told to obey the quran and sunnah then why these imaams with 4diffrent views and opinion?Asalamoalaikom wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuhu,
Sahabah: The companions of the Prophet, Those who lived and believed in him while he lived.
Tabaien: The Generation after the Companions. Those Muslims who have met the companions.
Itbah Tabaien or Taba Tabaien: The Generation after the Tabaien. Those Muslims who have met the Tabaiens.
Imaam: Generally leader. The one who leads the prayer is an Imaam. The four Imaams you are reffering to are Imaam Abu Haneefa, Imaam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, Imaam Maalik, Imaam Shafee. These noble sheikhs are called Imaam because their rulings gave rise to the four Madhahibs I.e Hanafee, Hanbali, Maliki and Shaf'ee.
Khaleefa: Muslim leader who rules over them. Usually this is used for the first four Khulafa of Islaam, namely Abu bakr as Sadeeq, Umer Ibn al Khattab, Uthmaan bin Affan and 'Ali Ibn abi talib.
Hope this clears you confusion.
wasalamoalaikom wa rahamtullahi wa barakaatuh.
what if i dnt follow these imams rather belive in quran and sunnah?Yes, each caliph came after the passing away of the previous one. Islam is not a rigid religion but a flexible one that allows different of opinion and room for interpretation. The 4 imams came at a time when their people needed someone to teach them about Islam. Each imam preached to best of their ability based on the knowledge and resources available to them. Over time these imam's preaching became madhab or school of thought. None of them are wrong as they all are Sunni, they differed only minor issues but otherwise they were all on the right path.
see,
Is it obligatory to follow a particular madhhab?
http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/21420/
Also, I recommend getting the book "The history of Islam" by Mubarakpuri, it's a great 3 volume comprehensive book of Islamic history.
http://www.amazon.com/History-Islam-Volumes-Akbar-Najeebabadi/dp/1591440343
what if i dnt follow these imams rather belive in quran and sunnah?